Display device for casket-handles.



L. T. BUTLER. DISPLAY DEVICE FOR CASKET HANDLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28, 1913.

1,074,584. Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

wWnassas Imam 0v LawvamaTBwflcr WWW LAWRENCE T. BUTLER, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-I-IALF TO 1 DANIEL G. LYZEN, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MIGHIGAN.

DlsPLAY DEVICE FOR CASKET-HANDLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. so. 1913.

Application filed April as, 1913. ee-ri l n retest.

T0 (ZZZ whom ifmag concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE. T- BUTLER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county. of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display Devices for Casketd'iandles; and ldo hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it app'ertains to make and use the same. v

My invention relates to improvements in display devices forcask'et handles and the like, and its object is to provide a device by which a casket handle may be temporarily held in operative position on the casket, to provide a device of this character which will be adjustable for various lengths of handles, which will be simple in operation and construction, and to provide the same with certain other new and useful features hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

It is customary to manufacture caskets and display them for sale without the handles attached, and as there is a great variety of styles of such handles, the customer is allowed to make his'own choice of them and it has been found very desirable to have some device by which the different styles of handles exhibited may be temporarily attached in operative position to the casket so that the customer may judge the appearance of the same when in such operative position and thus be aided in making his choice.

This invention provides a device for this purpose which comprises essentially two spring forks, each of which is adapted to receive the portion of the casket handle immediately adjacent the base by which it is attached to the side of the casket. Each fork is provided with a sharp spur which catches in the edge of the moldlng which customarily extends around the casket, or should the casket be covered with cloth this spur will penetrate into the same and thus support the forks, together with the handle, which is carried by them, and each fork is also provided with a brace which extends below the spur and engages the side of the casket to retain the handle in the desired position. The forks are connected by an adjustable tie bar which may be extendedor contracted to permit the device to be used on difi'erent lengths of iandles.

The preferred construction and arrangement'of the device will more fully appear by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of a casket showing a handle temporarily held in operative position thereon by a display device which embodies my invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the display device shown partly in section to illustrate the details of construction; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the side of the casket witn a handle held in operative position by the display device, said device being shown in end elevation.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents a casket of ordinary construction, which has extending around its lower edge, a molding or base 2 which is customary and common to nearly all caskets.

3 is the casket handle supported by hinged arms .t which project from base plates 5 which are adapted to be attached by screws to the side of the casket.

The display device is provided with spring forks 6 adapted to partially surround the base of the hinged arms 4:, and these forks are yieldable so that they will readily accommodate arms of difierent sizes. Each fork is provided with a spur 7 sharpened at its point and adapted to catch into the upper edge of the molding 2 on the casket to support the forks, together with the handle carried thereby. Each fork is also provided with a brace member 8 which extends below the spur and is adapted to engage the surface of the molding or side of the casket and braces the upper end of the display device holding the handle against the side of the casket in the proper operative position. The forks are connected by a telescopic tie bar composed of the members 9 and 10, the member 10 being longitudinally slidable in the member 9, thus enabling the tie bar to be extended or contracted to vary the "distance between the forks so that they will accommodate handles of different lengths.

When this device is used to display handles on caskets that are covered with cloth the spurs 7 may be'caught directly into such cloth covering and will serve to support the handle as efficiently in this way as though they were sustained by the wooden molding as illustrated. I

It is obvious that this device may be used for other purposes than displaying casket handles, as it is equally well adapted to support any device which may be carried by the forks and will support such a device in any place where thesharp spurs 7 will penetrate and where the brace members 8 will find a surface to engage and retain the device, together with the article carried thereby, in operative position. 7

It will be seen that this device is very simple in operation and construction, that it will effectually fulfil the purpose for which it is intended and will leave no unsightly marks upon the side of the casket where it has been used, as the spurs barely prick the surface into which they are inserted.

What I claim-is 1. A device'of the class described, comprising two spurs spaced apart and adapted to penetrate a supporting surface, a brace extending below each spur to engage said surface and a bifurcated supporting member projecting upward from each spur to hold the article to be displayed against said surface and above said spurs.

3. A device of the class described com- 7 prising two'spring forks to embrace the article to be displayedsaid forks being arranged in the same plane and, parallel to a supporting surface and each jaw of each respective fork being formed of a separate piece of wire clips to bind the wires together beneath the fork, one of said 1 wires extending beneaththe clip and terminating in aspur to penetrate said supporting surface and the other wire extendlng below the spur and serving as a brace to engage said-surface, and a spacing bar connectingsai'd forks. I

In testimony whereofl aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LAWRENCE T. BUTLER.

itnesses HAROLD O. VAN ANTWERI,

MAE RANKIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. a 

